麥克阿瑟軍聞社 (General MacArthur Military Journal): New Chinese Stealth UCAV

New Chinese Stealth UCAV – Sharp Sword

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Author: Dasein

In 21^st Nov, 2013, a new Chinese stealth unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) named Sharp Sword (Chinese: Lijian) was successfully gone through a test fight in Chengdu, China. [1][2] China has been the fourth country that having stealth UCAV in the world. The success of the new Chinese stealth UCAV test flight reminds us that China sent her UAV to the nearby sea of Okinawa in the last September. Martin Patience (reporter of BBC) said "The fear for everybody here is that some small misstep could actually trigger a bigger incident".

(Picture 1a,b: Lijian)

Stealth UCAV

Country and Model	US X47B[3]	UK Taranis[5]	France Dassault nEUROn[6]	China Lijian[7]
Height	3.1m	4m	?	?
Length	11.63m	11.35m	9.5m	?
Width	18.92m	9.1m	12.5m	14m
Net Weight	6350kg	?	4900kg	5488kg（Approx.）
Max Takeoff Weight	20215kg	8000kg（Weight）	7000kg（Gross Weight）	7499kg（Approx.）
Thrust	79kN（Military Thrust）[4]	29.4kN	40kN	98kN(RD93)[8], 43.15kN(WP7)[9]
Thrust-to-weight Ratio	3.9 - 12.44	3.675	5.7-8.16	13.07 – 17.86 (RD93), 5.75 – 7.86 (WP7)

(Information: Internet, Table: Author)

(Picture 2: X47B)

(Picture 3: Taranis)

(Picture 4: Dassault nEUROn)

Shape

Lijian has been aggressively designed for stealthiness. In the past, Chinese military stealth plane designs were seeking the balance of stealthiness and maneuverability (for example: J20). However, we can tell that China is now aggressively seeking for stealthiness in Lijian, just like X-47B.

It is important for us to ask why China is changing their stealth plane design from balance to high stealthiness. I believe this has been a new topic for intelligence service worldwide.

Besides, China has admitted that Lijian will be used to destroy enemy’s area defense system. Nowadays, there are only two common ways fighting against area defense system effectively and efficiently, stand-off weapons and low altitude raid. UAV is generally used to fire stand-off weapons in this case but China is not good at producing stand-off weapons. I believe that Lijian may need to take part in low altitude raid in China’s war plan.

It is important for us to remember that UAV is no good to be guided in low altitude because of land barriers. However, UAV can still work perfectly in low altitude above the sea.

Therefore, China is possible to use Lijian in most of the potential battle fields in the east of China.

Parameters

With reference to wikipedia, Lijian and X-47B is sharing similar range (approx. 4000km) and payload (approx. 2000kg). It is no doubt that Lijian is now on the edge of modern aerospace technology.

If we assume Lijian is using russian engine RD-93, the thrust-to-weight ratio is unusually high for Lijian. I believe that the exceptionaly high thrust-to-weigth ratio of Lijian is because Lijian is designed for low altitude raid. For western UCAV, they were designed to fire stand-off weapons, therefore it is no point to make their UCAVs super good to run away from enemy missiles. However, in low altitude raid, Lijian could be shot by low level air defense system. The high thrust-to-weight ratio could save Lijian’s “Life” from surface-to-air missiles (SAM), infra-red guided missiles in particular.

When will Lijian join the force?

In general, it takes 10 years for a prototype plane ready for mass production and initial operation capability.

For UAV, they will take extra years for computer reliability and security test. Otherwise, RQ-170 incidence could happen to any other countries again.

Regional Effect

Today, China is the only country that having stealth UCAV in the region. It is no doubt that Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are worrying for Lijian, because Lijian reduces the price for starting a war. In the foreseeable future, Lijian will lead to regional military competition, also countries in the Far East will purchase more assault weapons in order to threat against China. In a long run, Lijian will bond with Japan constitutional reform and Taiwan weapon purchase.

The possible first mission for Lijian

It is possible for China to send Lijian to sensitive region to test its stealthiness. China will try to fly Lijian above other countries’ land radar system, sea radar system and fighter planes radar. I believe that China could be interested to know if Taiwanese new ASEA radar (US new radar system) can detect Lijian from different distances.

Also, I believe China could send Lijian to Senkaku islands in the future, just like last September.

My Prediction

In order to defense Lijian, radar systems with different EM frequencies could be introduced in the Far East countries.

Picture Source:

[Pic 1a]: http://images.takungpao.com/2013/0523/20130523082505294.jpg, 24^th Nov, 2013

[Pic 1b]: http://img1.cache.netease.com/cnews/2013/5/30/2013053016264798b33.jpg, Viewed 24^th Nov, 2013

[Pic 2]: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/A_U.S._Navy_X-47B_Unmanned_Combat_Air_System_makes_an_arrested_landing_aboard_the_aircraft_carrier_USS_George_H.W._Bush_%28CVN_77%29_as_the_ship_conducts_flight_operations_in_the_Atlantic_Ocean_off_the_coast_of_Vir_130710-N-LE576-002.jpg, Viewed 24^th Nov, 2013

[Pic 3]: http://www.ainonline.com/sites/default/files/uploads/DefPers_Taranis.jpg, Viewed 24^th Nov, 2013

[Pic 4]: http://www.defencegreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/neuron_taxy.jpg, Viewed 24h Nov, 2013

Reference:

[1]:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25033155, Viewed 24^th Nov, 2013

[2]:http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%88%A9%E5%89%91%E6%97%A0%E4%BA%BA%E4%BD%9C%E6%88%98%E9%A3%9E%E6%9C%BA, Viewed 24^th Nov, 2013